Quran Inconsistency
Sam
Shamoun
The Quran, in a number of passages, says that
Satan entices unbelievers to sin by making evil appear quite alluring:
When the suffering reached
them from us, why then did they not learn humility? On the contrary their
hearts became hardened, and Satan made their (sinful) acts seem alluring
to them. S. 6:43
Remember Satan
made their (sinful) acts seem alluring to them, and said: "No one among men can overcome you
this day, while I am near to you": But when the two forces came in sight
of each other, he turned on his heels, and said: "Lo! I am clear of you;
lo! I see what ye see not; Lo! I fear God: for God is strict in punishment."
S. 8:48
By God, We (also)
sent (Our apostles) to Peoples before thee; but Satan made, (to the
wicked), their own acts seem alluring: He is also their patron today,
but they shall have a most grievous penalty. S. 16:63
(Remember also) the
'Ad and the Thamud (people): clearly will appear to you from (the traces) of
their buildings (their fate): the Evil One made their deeds alluring to
them, and kept them back from the Path, though they were gifted with
intelligence and skill. S. 29:38
Thus far, these passages do not pose a
problem since every monotheist who believes in a Satan would agree that the
enemy of our souls does try to mislead mankind from the path by making sin look
attractive.
The problem is not with Satan enticing man to
sin, but with these other references that say that it is actually Allah who
makes sin alluring to people:
Revile not ye those
whom they call upon besides God, lest they out of spite revile God in their
ignorance. Thus have We made alluring to each people its own doings.
In the end will they return to their Lord, and We shall then tell them the
truth of all that they did. S. 6:108
As to those who
believe not in the Hereafter, We have made their deeds pleasing in their
eyes; and so they wander about in distraction. S. 27:4
With the foregoing in mind, who exactly is to
be blamed for enticing and alluring mankind away from the guidance? Should we
blame Satan or Allah?
There is more to the problem since the
confusion doesn’t end here. The Quran says that if Allah wanted to he could
have caused everyone to embrace the guidance and even stopped men from
committing heinous crimes:
How is it with you,
that you are two parties touching the hypocrites, and God has overthrown them
for what they earned? What, do you desire to guide him whom God has led
astray? Whom God leads astray, thou wilt not find for him a way. S.
4:88 Arberry
If their spurning is
hard on thy mind, yet if thou wert able to seek a tunnel in the ground or a
ladder to the skies and bring them a sign, - (what good?). If it were
God's will, He could gather them together unto true guidance: so be not
thou amongst those who are swayed by ignorance (and impatience)! S. 6:35
Even so, in the eyes
of most of the pagans, their "partners" made alluring the
slaughter of their children, in order to lead them to their own
destruction, and cause confusion in their religion. If God had willed,
they would not have done so: But leave alone them and their inventions.
S. 6:137
And unto God leads
straight the Way, but there are ways that turn aside: if God had willed,
He could have guided all of you. S. 16:9
If God had willed,
He would have made you one nation; but He leads astray whom He will, and
guides whom He will; and you will surely be questioned about the things
you wrought. S. 16:93 Arberry
This is an admonition:
Whosoever will, let him take a (straight) Path to his Lord. But ye will
not, except as God wills; for God is full of Knowledge and Wisdom. He
will admit to His Mercy whom He will; But the wrong-doers, - for them
has He prepared a grievous Penalty. S. 76:29-31
Doesn’t it become obvious that Allah is the
culprit and the one to be blamed for misleading mankind from the true path?
After all, if Allah wanted to guide everyone then Satan wouldn’t be able to
entice anyone away from the truth.
In fact, Allah takes personal responsibility
for ordaining that specific individuals have certain companions enticing them
to do evil:
And We have
destined for them intimate companions (of like nature), who made alluring to them what was
before them and behind them; and the sentence among the previous generations of
Jinns and men, who have passed away, is proved against them; for they are
utterly lost. S. 41:25
Clearly, Allah is at fault for deceiving and
enticing mankind away from the truth.
Interestingly, even the unbelievers realized
that it was Allah who wanted them to sin or to associate other gods with him
since he could have prevented them from committing these acts if he didn’t!
Those who give
partners (to God) will say: "If God had wished, we should not have given
partners to Him nor would our fathers; nor should we have had any taboos."
So did their ancestors argue falsely, until they tasted of Our wrath. Say:
"Have ye any (certain) knowledge? If so, produce it before us. Ye follow
nothing but conjecture: ye do nothing but lie." S. 6:148
It is amazing that the Quran accuses the
unbelievers of speaking falsely when so many of its passages, such as the ones
we cited above, agree that Allah could have guided these disbelievers away from
their wickedness if he so desired. In fact, this is precisely what the very
next verse says!
Say: "With God
is the argument that reaches home: if it had been His will, He could
indeed have guided you all." S. 6:149
Talk about confusion and contradiction!
That they continued doing evil shows that
Allah didn’t want to guide them, which basically means that it was his will for
them to disbelieve. Thus, the unbelievers were right in blaming Allah for their
sins!
In light of the above, it is rather hard to
avoid the conclusion that the Allah of the Quran is really Satan himself
masquerading as God. But if Muslims want to keep insisting that Allah is the
true God then they must wrestle with the fact that he acts just as wickedly and
deceptively as Satan, if not more so. If anything, Satan is actually helping
Allah to accomplish his purpose of deceiving and enticing mankind away from the
truth, which makes the devil his partner in crime, his very own accomplice!
Why, then, does Allah blame Satan for helping him to pervert people from the
truth?
We will leave that for Muslims to answer.
Unless stated otherwise, all quranic verses
taken from the Abdullah Yusuf Ali version.
Further
http://answering-islam.org/Shamoun/allah_deceiver.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Quran/Contra/command_evil.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Shamoun/does_god_deceive.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Authors/Wood/deceptive_god.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Shamoun/preserved-crucifixion.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Shamoun/god.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Osama/zawadi_paul_deceiver.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Osama/smith_mixed_bag.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Responses/Osama/smith_mixed_bag2.htm